Starr Playground

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found posted within the park.

What was here before?

Around 1660, a parcel of Lenape land was granted to Hendrick Barentz Smidt by Peter Stuyvesant. The parcel included the plot that is now Starr Playground. In 1709, Paulus Vander Ende purchased 100 acres of the Barentz Smidt land. The Vander Ende Farm stretched north to south from Flushing Avenue to Catalpa Street, running along modern-day Onderdonk and Seneca Avenues. The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, built by Paulus Vander Ende, in 1709 still stands today two blocks from this site.

In 1821, Adrian and Ann Wyckoff Onderdonk purchased the farm and expanded the farmhouse. The playground parcel would continue to be part of the fam until the 1880’s when the last Onderdonk descendant to live on the farm, Gertrude Onderdonk Schoonmaker, started selling parcels of the property. The site remained undeveloped through the mid-1930s.

How did this site become a playground?

The City acquired this land in 1936 and jurisdiction was transferred to Parks in two parcels between 1940 and 1942. Starr Playground opened on Christmas Day in 1947. This playground is one of hundreds constructed under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses (1888-1981) with federal aid through the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Typically, these playgrounds were characterized by large asphalt areas adorned with sandboxes, see-saws, metallic jungle-gyms and monkey bars, swing sets, and slides.

In 2022, renovations to the playground refurbished an existing handball court and transformed what was a large asphalt area into a multi-purpose play area featuring a walking circuit, high school size basketball court, two basketball half courts, an ecuavolley court, and a community gathering area with seating. A second phase of construction in 2022 rebuilt play areas and includes multigenerational play equipment, painted games, and a spray shower.

What is this playground named for?

This playground is named for adjoining Starr Street, which runs from the adjacent neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn to Metropolitan Avenue a few blocks north of this playground.